


Painted Scales

by Topazbeast



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Genre: Artist Link, M/M, Merman Vaati, Zelda is still the princess, oh goodness, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-04-18 04:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4692404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topazbeast/pseuds/Topazbeast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Link, an aspiring artist, discovers a beautiful young merman living in Lake Hylia named Vaati. Vaati inspires Link to create beautiful works of art, drawing the artist closer to the mysterious merman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Purple Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is my first fanfic that I plan to actually finish... I think the individual chapters will be a little short, but hey, it's the content that counts. Constructive criticism is welcome! Anything to make me a better writer!

_A delicate brush cascades over a blank canvas, blending beautiful colors, creating perfect perspective, capturing the light of the sunset shimmering over the glassy surface of Lake Hylia, creating an absolutely perfect-_

"Disaster!" Link cried out. He threw his ruined artworwork to the sand and ground the toe of his leather boot into the orange and yellow of his amateur sunset.

"It looks like a child's painting!" he hissed, picking up the filthy canvas and crumpling it up. He shoved the ball of paper into his bag and slung the strap over his shoulder.

"I can never get anything right," he mumbled to himself. He picked up a large rock from the smooth sand of the shore and stared at the little ridges and crags carved into it. He had an artist's eye, able to pick up the tiniest details in the feathers of a cucco from across a field. He was never satisfied with how he portrayed these details, however, and nearly always gave up.

He tossed the rock into the water in his frustration. The satisfying plunk! it made when breaking the tension of the water soothed his anger slightly. He gazed out at the reflection of the sunset on the surface, the ripples made by the rock making it shudder and stretch, as if the water were a fluttering painting in the wind, just one strong breeze away from tearing apart.

Oddly, the ripples seemed to be moving closer to the shore. Link squinted, thinking that it must be a trick of the dim light. He moved closer to the edge of the water to get a better view of the rapidly approaching ripples. He hardly noticed the water lapping at the toes of his boots. The ripples spread out from a rapidly moving shadow that looked only slightly bigger than Link himself. In shock, Link stumbled back from the edge of the water and fell on his rear in the sand. The menacing shadow breached the surface of the lake at the short, splashing Link with water and making him yelp.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" a voice shrilled. Link rubbed his eyes and gaped at the creature crawling onto the shore. Its ruby red eyes were scruched up in frustration, nearly concealing a little scar just below the left one. Its purple lips were pulled back in a scowl to reveal pointed canine teeth. Its long lavender hair cascaded down past its lilac shoulders to its back, which connected to a long, shimmering fish tail. Each scale glittered like a polished amethyst in the dwindling light of the sun.

"Well? Don't just stare at me!" the creature growled. Link nodded absentmindedly and shook himself out of his stupor. "You hit me with a rock, dimwit!"

"S-sorry, mister, um," Link stammered.

"Vaati. My name is Vaati," he said, pulling his long hair across one shoulder and combing his fingers through it.

"Vaati," Link corrected himself. "I'm Link. I didn't mean to hit you. I just got frustrated with my painting, and I lost my temper."

"Painting?" Vaati's scowl faded. "Are you an artist?"

"Not really. Well, I am, but I'm not very good at it."

"Please, please paint me!" Vaati begged, crawling closer to Link with his lightly muscled arms. Link was surprised at the merman's pleading gaze. "I'll do anything for a portrait!"

Link hesitated for a moment. "Sure."

Vaati's teeth shone like pearls as his lips parted into a grin. He crawled through the sand to rest himself in the water, his tail halfway submerged. Link put another paper onto his easel, smoothing out the pure white surface. He sat down and glanced over at the merman who was eagerly awaiting him to begin.

"Can you, uh, pose for me?" Link asked, rinsing off his brush in preparation. Vaati nodded and donned a stoic expression, his head turned parallel to the lake. He tucked his tail behind him and rested one hand on the sand and draped the other across his tail.

"Perfect," Link said. He dipped his brush in his paints and set to work capturing Vaati's beauty. Oddly, painting the merman felt natural to him. The curve of his muscles and the light reflecting off of his shimmering scales melted from the brush onto the canvas. Paint bled from Link's brushstrokes to form Vaati's waterfall of lovely hair, cascading down to the middle of his back. Link meticulously painted on Vaati's blood red eyes- the crown jewel of his lovely feminine face.

"...Finished," Link breathed as soon as he added the last touch to the background. Vaati yawned and stretched out his arms before crawling up to the shore.

"That was faster than I expected," Vaati mused. "I just hope you didn't rush."

"I hope it looks alright to you," Link sighed. He turned the easel to face Vaati, bracing himself for the criticism he was sure to receive.

"I love it! It's beautiful!" Vaati exclaimed, smiling giddily. "It's like a mirror!" He twirled a strand of his lavender hair around his finger as he admired the painting.

"I didn't think it was anything special," Link admitted. "You see, there's a lot of flaws right here in the-"

"Quiet! It's perfect the way it is. Stop being so hard on yourself!" Vaati turned to face Link.

"May I keep it?"

"You can't. The water will ruin the paper."

"Oh..." Vaati looked crestfallen. Link felt a twinge of pity for the pretty merman.

"How about I come by as often as I can so you can look at it? It's yours, but I'll just keep it safe for you."

Vaati perked up, showing off his pearly grin again. "I'd love that! Could you come back tomorrow?"

"Of course, Vaati. Anything for my model."


	2. Sand...witches?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link visits Vaati the next day, bringing along a taste of life on land.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I've been going through some tough times, so it took me a while to motivate myself to write again. Again, constructive criticism is always welcome! Thank you all so much, especially my friend Riley.

The sun at noontime hung high and hot over Lake Hylia, causing every creature to retreat to the cool depths. Every creature, that is, except for Vaati.

Vaati rested on the western shore of the lake, not minding the hot sand digging into his forearms. His tail waggled back and forth slowly, pushing at the waves lapping at his transluscent purple fins, as he waited patiently for the artist to come back. Link hadn't specified the time he would arrive at the lake, leaving Vaati to wait all day if he had to. The artist wasn't as important to him as the painting he had made.

I suppose he's important, since he made my painting, Vaati thought. Plus, he's keeping it safe.

Vaati didn't care much for humans, and humans didn't care much for him. Link, however... Link was the one human who paid attention to Vaati and actually found him beautiful, instead of ugly like the other humans thought. Vaati found Link's artistic talent intriguing, and he was happy to inspire him to make beautiful works of art. He admired his own beauty more than anyone else's, after all. Although Link wasn't exactly ugly, with his long blond bangs and his cerulean blue eyes, set in an almost feminine face.  Vaati wouldn't call him beautiful, but he supposed "cute" was justified for the young artist.

"Vaati!"

A loud voice snapped Vaati out of his thoughts. The green-clothed artist from the day before emerged from the trees carrying a basket and Vaati's painting. Vaati's pearly teeth emerged as his lips parted in a grin.

"I'm sorry, I probably should have given you a time that I would be back today," Link huffed as he set down the basket and propped the painting against a rock for Vaati to look at.

To his own surprise, Vaati seemed more interested in Link than the painting. "What's in the basket?"

"Oh, this? I thought I'd bring some food," Link explained as he spread out a blanket on the sand. He placed two plates across from each other and set out the food- little sandwiches with decorative toothpicks sticking out of them. Vaati eyed the sandwiches suspiciously.

"What is this?" He said, picking up a sandwich and peeling back the bread.

"Cuccoo sandwiches." Link took a bite of one. "I put in a few spices to make it taste a little less bland." The food nearly tumbled from his mouth as he spoke.

Vaati rolled his eyes at Links abhorrent manners and took a small bite of the sandwich. His eyes lit up at the odd flavor.

"Mm, these sand-witches are really good!" Vaati said with his mouth full, completely forgetting his own manners. "I had no idea cuccoos tasted like this!"

Link smiled at Vaati's enthusiasm and finished a half of his sandwich. "I'm glad you like them. What do you usually eat?"

"Fish, mostly," Vaati said, finally swallowing. "It's good, but not anything like this!"

Link chuckled. "I'm sure the fish would taste better if you actually cooked it."

"Cook...?" Vaati tilted his head curiously, his purple eyes wide.

"Cooking is when you heat food up enough to make it change in some way," Link explained. He took out a small piece of cuccoo meat from the sandwiches. "This has been cooked because raw cuccoo meat makes humans sick." He popped the meat into his mouth and grinned.

Vaati took another bite of his sandwich, chewing slowly to savor the taste. He looked up at Link, who smiled at him warmly. He felt his heartbeat quicken and he quickly looked down to study the bite marks in his sandwich. How odd, Vaati thought. He had never felt his heart beat faster whenever he looked at any other human. Perhaps Link made him nervous? Vaati pushed the thought from his mind. Link made Vaati feel more at ease than when he was all alone.

"Are you alright?" Link said.

Vaati abandoned his thoughts and decided not to tell Link what was bothering him. "I'm fine. Just admiring the sandwiches." He gathered the courage to look up at Link and give him a small smile.

Link smiled back, and Vaatis's face heated up. "Are there any other merpeople in the lake with you?"

Vaati's embarrassment melted into a dull, painful ache. "No... I've been alone my whole life." He looks down at the sand and grabs a handful, letting it percolate through his fingers to distract himself.

"No parents...?" Link began to look a little worried.

Vaati shakes his head. "I just remember waking up one day and being here. I have no idea where I'm from."

Link didn't know what to say to comfort the merman. He looked into the sand as well, hoping that Vaati would change the subject.

"How about you? Do you have a family?"

Link cringed. Of all of the things he could ask...

"W-well, my parents died when I was very young. My grandfather took care of me, but he didn't do a very good job. He told me that painting was a waste of time and that I should put my artistic skills into forging weapons. The Princess Zelda was kind enough to befriend me and play with me, and we're still friends to this day."

"Princess... Zelda? Who is that?" Vaati felt a twinge of jealousy at hearing about someone Link had known before he had met him.

"She's the daughter of the ruler of Hyrule," he says happily, perking up as soon as he starts thinking about her. "When we were little, we played games and ran through the castle..."

Link babbled on and on about his good friend while Vaati simmered in jealousy. This sounded like someone Link liked more than him... Vaati didn't want to hear any more about the princess.

"Link, could you tell me more about how you got into painting?" Vaati interjected.

"Oh, of course!" Link said. Vaati noticed that Link was much more excited to talk about his hobby than his old friend.

Vaati breathed a sigh 0f relief and listened to Link ramble on about his passion for art, staring intently at him. He's quite a talker when he's interested in something, Vaati thought.

The two sat like this, talking and picking at the leftover sandwiches until the sun began to sink over the horizon. Link had finally stopped talking to admire the reflection of the blazing sunset on the water, but Vaati was more focused on the painting Link had made for him. He wanted one last glimpse of it before it got too dark to see.

"Well, I need to get going," Link sighed. He stood up and stretched out his long limbs before packing up the picnic and picking up the painting. A pit of disappointment sunk into Vaati's stomach.

"You're coming back tomorrow, right?" Vaati asked hopefully.

"Of course. I'll come back as often as I can," Link said. With a soft smile and a gentle wave, he was trudging across the sandy shore. Vaati didn't look away until he had disappeared into the trees.

  



	3. Moonlight Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link arrives at the lake later than he expected to, and finds quite a surprise waiting there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go! I'm hoping to put out these chapters a little faster, considering that things are going much more smoothly for me. Again, thanks to my friend Riley for helping me out!

All was quiet in the woods leading up to Lake Hylia. The only sounds were the gentle chirping of crikets and Link's own shuffling feet. Silver moonlight fell on his face from between the gaps in the leaves above his head, making his pale skin seem almost luminous. Link had no more trouble winding his way through the trees than he did when it was a perfectly sunny day, as the full moon bathed everything in the area in a milky light. Link didn't plan on making his way to the lake so late in the day, but his schedule had been packed tight from the moment he had woken up that morning. Zelda had demanded that they have brunch together since it was such a beautiful day, so that took up most of his morning. His grandfather had insisted that Link take him to the doctor, and that had drained away his afternoon completely. Poor Link could only hope that Vaati was still awake at this time of night. He didn't have a clue what the sleep patterns of mermen were.

  
Link let out a sigh of relief when he spotted the shore of Lake Hylia in the dim light. His whole body was tired out from his long day and he was glad to finally be able to sit down and rest. He paused just before exiting the forest, straining to listen when a lovely sound slowly rose above the volume of the crickets. The haunting melody echoed across the expanse of the lake, making Link's breathing grow quiet in hopes that he could hear it better. He slowly stepped out of the woods, barely noticing the shuffling sand underneath his feet when he found the source of the music. Vaati combed his fingers through his hair as he sang. He sat on a large rock near the middle of the lake, gazing at his moonlit reflection and admiring the pearly shimmer it gave his purple scales. His smile quickly fell as soon as he saw Link standing spellbound on the shore.

  
"Vaati..." Link whispered. He broke into a huge grin and started jumping up and down like an excited child. "That was amazing! You're so GORGEOUS! I need to paint you, right now!"

  
Vaati was furious! Of all of the times Link had decided to show up, he had chosen the absolute worst one! His cheeks flushed a dark purple in embarrassment and he slid off of his rock to swim up to shore. He crawled onto the sand and tried to make himself look as tall as possible without falling over. "Link, you idiot! This was my PRIVATE time, and you went and interrupted me by EMBARRASSING me! WHY didn't you come visit me earlier in the day?! I was SO worried that you had decided you didn't like me and wanted nothing to do with me anymore!" His tail smacked the shore and kicked up sand with every word he emphasized, making him look like an angry toddler.

  
Link's head sank lower and lower with every chastising word Vaati spat at him, leaving him looking like he wanted to disappear into his shirt. "Vaati, I-I'm sorry, I just had a really busy day, and I needed to take care of my grandfather." Link decided to leave out his brunch with Zelda, remembering the hint of jealousy he had heard from Vaati the last time he mentioned her to him.

  
Vaati huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. Um, sorry for yelling at you like that." He felt a little guilty for scolding Link when he had to care for his family.

  
"I'll only accept your apology if you let me paint you like you were before," Link teased, smiling again. Vaati rolled his eyes and crawled back into the lake, swimming up to the rock and positioning himself like he was before.

  
"Like this?" Vaati called out. Part of his tail was hanging off of the rock, just barely skimming the surface of the water. Link set up a small easel and a canvas before looking over at the merman.

  
"Perfect. Oh, and one more thing, could you sing like you were before? It was really lovely." Link positioned his brush over the paint.

  
Vaati blushed again before nodding and quietly humming a tune to gather his confidence. He thought about how Link had called him gorgeous before, and how much he liked his singing. Wanting to please him, Vaati began to sing the way he did before. He focused on his reflection in the glass-like water of the lake. He had never seen himself as beautiful before, but Link's insistance that he paint him made him feel more special than he ever had before.

  
Link didn't think he could capture Vaati's unearthly beauty in his painting, but he would try anyway. After all, practice makes perfect. His grandfather had repeated that to him day after day, making him stay up late to finish schoolwork until it was absolutely perfect. Without his grandfather pushing him, Link felt free, but he also felt empty. His grandfather's approval was all that mattered to him when he was younger, and he knew he could never please him with his art. He just needed to try his best. For Vaati, for Zelda, for whoever could appreciate him.

  
Link's brushstrokes were painstakingly careful, making sure each shape and line and color was exactly where it needed to be. Everything had to be perfect for Vaati. How else was he going to please the merman?

  
Link paused his painting for a moment to stare at Vaati a little longer, just to see the small details in his face.

  
_His gorgeous, perfect face..._ Link thought to himself, chewing on his bottom lip. _Goddesses, he looks so beautiful._

  
Vaati caught him staring and blushed, wishing that he would finish the painting already. Link noticed Vaati's impatience and quickly added the final touches to the picture.

  
"Finished!" Link called out. Vaati sighed in relief and swam back to the shore.

  
"Thank goodness, my tail was starting to cramp up," Vaati moaned as he crawled onto the sand. "Let me see the painting!"

  
Link took a deep breath and showed the canvas to him, bracing himself for the biting criticism he was sure would come. To his surprise, Vaati's eyes widened and he grinned with glee.

  
"I have no idea how your skinny little fingers could be so precise, but you've just worked a miracle," Vaati said. "It's even better than the other one."

  
"The other one... Oh, shoot! I forgot to bring the other painting!" Link groaned.

  
"Link, it doesn't matter! I'm just happy to see you," the merman said firmly.

  
"Ah..." Link blushed when Vaati's glowing praise finally sunk in. He turned away from the merman to pack up his easel and his paints. "Well, um, I should be heading back..." He let out a huge yawn.

  
An idea popped into Vaati's head. "I-I don't think that's such a good idea! You're really tired, and there are some monsters in the woods. You wouldn't be able to shoo them away."

  
Link rubbed his eyes and shrugged. "I suppose I could stay here. It's kind of a warm night." He wanted to spend more time with Vaati, anyway.

  
Vaati tried his best to hide his joy and invited Link to sit down with him in the sand.

 

 

Eventually the light conversation died out and the two lay down on the shore and fell asleep.


	4. Tears in the Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and Vaati are trying to have a nice morning, but some pent up emotions creep up on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another late chapter. There's been a lot of turmoil in my life lately, but I'm so happy I could get this chapter out. Again, feedback is greatly appreciated!

Link's mattress felt oddly shifty under his back. His mattress was uncomfortable, sure, but it never felt like this before. The sun streaming through his window was especially bright this morning... Oh.

Link opened up his eyes and stared up at the blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds, looking like ice floes in the lake during winter. Yes, right, the lake. Hold on, did he bring a blanket? He felt a warm and solid weight on his chest that he didn't remember falling asleep with. He shifted his arm to feel what was on top of him, and felt smooth, warm skin under his fingers. He craned his head forward to look, and he saw Vaati sleeping peacefully, head rested on his chest. Link's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment at the sight of Vaati cuddling up to him, and he quickly pulled his hand from Vaati's back. Vaati didn't seem disturbed by Link's movements. His eyelids had barely fluttered when Link moved his arm from his back. Link prayed to the goddesses that Vaati was a heavy sleeper, and slid out from under the merman as slowly as he could, setting him down so his cheek was resting against the sand. He stood up and let his eyes wander over the sleeping figure of Vaati, admiring how the sun glinted off of the scales wetted by the lapping waves, and how the dry scales still had a dull shimmer to them. 

As far as Link knew, friends didn't cuddle as they slept- that behavior was typically reserved for younger children. He wasn't the most sociable person, with his only good friend being Zelda, but he knew what friends were supposed to do. Friends weren't supposed to be so nervous around each other. So why did he feel so strange around Vaati? There was nothing too intimidating about the merman, he might be a little jealous sometimes, but he wasn't dangerous or manipulative. Vaati had seemed grumpy in the beginning, but he was a good person, being supportive of Link and genuinely interested in him. 

Link, although he was lost in thought, caught a glimpse of Vaati moving and returned his attention to him. Vaati rolled onto his back and held his hand up to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight.

"Good morning, sunshine," Link said, smiling. He was trying his best to appear confident in the midst of his muddled thoughts.

"Mornin'," Vaati mumbled in reply. He rolled over onto his belly and propped himself up on his elbows, showing Link his huge pearly grin.

"What's the smile for?" Link asked, sitting back down.

"Oh, uh... I'm happy that you decided to stay," Vaati said. 

Link couldn't help but notice a faint blush dusting Vaati's cheeks, as well as a little bit of hesitation in his voice. 

"I'm glad I stayed. I couldn't leave before you woke up, could I?"

"So polite," Vaati giggled. "It couldn't hurt you to be a little abrasive, right?"

"Abrasive? My grandfather always yelled at me if I disagreed, so it's a little hard for me," Link said, sighing.

"No wonder you insisted that your painting was bad when we first met. Has your grandfather always been so bad to you?"

Link looked down and dug his fingers into the sand to distract himself from the anxiety welling up in his stomach. He didn't like to think that his grandfather was bad to him, but being around Zelda and Vaati made him feel like there shouldn't be so much discomfort in their relationship. 

"I've always taken what he's said about me to heart," Link said. "He used to tell me that I was a lazy and spoiled child whenever I cried. If I did the tiniest thing wrong, he would yell at me and call me worthless until I got it right."

Link could feel his throat tightening and tears slipping from his eyes. He didn't want to cry in front of the merman, but he couldn't help it. It was like a dam had broken inside of him and everything was flooding out.

"He would only let me play with Zelda because she was the princess, and I was never able to make any other friends," he sobbed. "I was only able to draw and paint in school, but I had to hide everything I made from him. He made me feel so worthless that I would never talk to any of the other children because I was scared that they would hate me."

The sudden surge of emotion surprised Vaati. He never expected Link to be in so much pain, since he was always so gentle and kind. He was unsure of what to do, but he didn't like seeing Link cry. He wanted the artist's warm smile and bright eyes back. The merman wiggled up to Link as quickly as his tail allowed him to and wrapped his arms around him. 

Link's sobs began to quiet down. Even though it was a little awkward, with Vaati having to use him as support so he wouldn't topple over, the gesture made Link feel a lot better. 

"...I don't see how anyone could hate you," Vaati mumbled.

Link wiped the tears from his eyes so he could see Vaati better.

"I can't help it," he replied. "It's so hard to not criticize myself."

"Well, you should work on it. You're a dummy if you can't see why you're so amazing!" Vaati said with a grin.

"Same goes for you, Vaati."

It was nice to hear that from Link. Vaati was often anxious that Link liked other people more than him, and he felt a little jealous, especially of Zelda. He was desperate to keep Link around since he was his first ever friend. Being so antisocial, Vaati had no idea how to make Link like him. He was sure that he had to keep the other boy happy, and he was doing that pretty well so far.

"How about we go for a swim so you feel better? The water is really nice in the morning," Vaati said. He started to squirm towards the water, grunting with effort.

Link let out a laugh and helped Vaati into the water.

"I'd love to, but I don't have a bathing suit," Link sighed. It would have been nice to swim with the merman.

"Bathing suit? Can't you just take off your clothes and go swimming?" Vaati asked.

"Er... Humans aren't usually naked, so it's a little uncomfortable."

"Come ON, Link!" Vaati whined. "It doesn't matter. I promise I won't stare!"

Link exhaled deeply and shook his head. He figured it was silly to be embarrassed about these things around Vaati. He stripped his clothes off and neatly folded them before wading into the cool waters of the lake.

"It's not as cold as I thought it would be," Link said. "It's nice."

"Told you. Hey, I bet you can't swim faster than me!" Vaati shouted. With a flick of his tail, he was swimming faster than anything Link had ever seen before.

"Waaaait, Vaati! I can't swim that fast!" Link hollered after him. He rolled his eyes and began to swim lazily, not even trying to catch up to the merman.


End file.
